The doc wanted to see me this week in order to refill a medication prescription. Just after 8 holiday parties, I went in and was weighed as usual. Oh boy.
I know I gain during the winter and loose it in the more active summer, but did I need to be weighed right after Christmas? My weight increased so that now for the first time in my life I am considered overweight (but no obese:D), according to the BMI calculation.
I have begun watching calories & keeping track of calories in a written log, (which I understand is good for achieving results.) As part of my 'recovery', I am also discovering how to burn calories.
So how many calories does each stroke burn? From the internet, in a one hour swim (assume that means swimming continuously) for my weight / age:
..backstroke 651
..breaststroke 931
..butterfly 1024
..freestyle fast 931
..freestyle moderate 651
(Note to self: 1 pound of body fat = 3500 calories)
Former Member
Why wouldn't the slowest stroke (breaststroke) be the one that burns most calories?
My HR monitor is pretty accurate. I have programmed all possible settings: height, weight, age, gender, income. LOL Gotcha!
I think it is right because I have warn it sitting and I burn about 100 cal/hour not doing much. I am currently doing a weight loss program that keeps specific track of my intake (food calories) and exercise (calories burned). The program tells me that I burn about 2400 calories in a 24 hour period (just breathing)- therefore I think my HR monitor is accurate. (Pretty science-y for a history teacher huh?) :bow:
The only thing I wish I had that was more accurate is percentage of muscle, body fat, etc.
I will need to jaunt over to CSU Hayward to use the BodPod sometime soon. It's 15 bucks and is almost as accurate as hydrostatic weighing.
BTW, for me, br still burns the most calories.
All things being equal(and they never are) at maximal intensity BR should burn the most calories as it most uses the big leg muscles,however it is probably the easiest stroke to add glide/rest to.For me it is very hard to slow down BK much or my legs sink(followed rapidly by the rest of me.) so I burn an inordinate amount of calories in BK.For most people swimming fly slowly is hard so it will burn a lot of calories.Then there is the whole SDK thing which can totally change the calories burned,especially in SCY.
This I believe.
Chris, Karen's monitor, and Allen are right - the movement and exertion in the big leg and torso muscles burns the most muscles - breaststroke and butterfly. I also believe Chris is right in that efficiency makes a difference. For me, breaststroke & glide is efficient and relaxing. I probably burn most calories with flutter kick in kick sets - my legs need to be wild egg beaters to keep me from drifting backwards.
Breaststroke, no question. My HR monitor tells me so. :agree:
That's going to be very specific to the person. Breaststroke is tiring to me because I use muscles I don't use in the other strokes, and my kick is so poor...but it doesn't get me out of breath or raise my HR as much as the other strokes.
The kick is (ahem) the kicker. If I grab a kickboard and blast away, I will quickly get out of breath with either flutter or dolphin kick. But I can't "blast away" with frog kick: turnover is too slow and my knees simply won't take it. My muscles get tired and I can't go any faster, but my breathing stays pretty steady. This is a problem with me, not an indictment of the stroke.
(But it's a terrible stroke that should be banned.)
For me, fly gets the HR up the fastest. But I would tend to think that the constant start/stop nature of the short-axis strokes might make them more "energy hogs" than the long-axis strokes, similar to how gas mileage suffers in the city compared to the highway.
You're exactly right with the running -v- walking. If I walk a mile I'll usually burn more calories than running the same mile, according to my Garmin w/HR monitor. The slower I run (or ride my bike), the more calories I burn for that distance.
Doing nothing does burn some calories, but not as much as doing nearly anything. Heck, eating carrots (for most people) usually results in burning calories rather than adding them.
I don't think HR monitors do too good a job as calorie counters. Anyhow, this article indicates running burns 50% more calories than walking:
www.runnersworld.com/.../0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html
But running vs. walking isn't the same as swimming hard at the various strokes.
Also, I don't think the running vs. biking comparison is valid, since biking is machine-assisted.
I think the valid comparison would be elite athletes, experts at each, going as fast as they possibly can at each endeavor. Personally, I think the slower you go, the more calories you are burning, which would be breaststroke.
If you believe the fastest stroke burns the most calories, then you'd be voting for freestyle.
Bike to practice - 3800 yds - run home. Repeat as needed.
Looks good...problem is your bike is still at practice, and you're at home. That means you have to run back at some other time...and that is WAY to much running :afraid:
The BMI is mathematical snakeoil. Insurance companies love it because they can easily deny preferred rates.
For me, Fly is the most intense swim I can do. Getting some IM in my workouts is great for all-around conditioning. I can see improvements in endurance when I include fly and IM in my workouts, even though I have no intention of racing IM, but maybe a 50 fly. I can't tell you how many calories it burns, but I would guess it is the highest, for me anyway.
An easy way to add fly is to add a lap to the end of your sets. 4 x 200s on X:XX, last lap fly, 12 x 125s on X:XX, last lap fly, ect. I can see/feel endurance gains over weeks.
